Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698943639615.pdf (Uganda)
OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF OPPOSITION ALTERNATIVE POLICY STATEMENT FY 2014/15 AOL BETTY OCAN (MP) SHADOW MINISTER SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER JULY, 2014 Executive Summary Rt.

Hon.

Speaker and Members, in accordance with section 6E (2)and (4) of the Administration of Parliament Act,2006 and rule 136 of the rules of Procedure, I present on behalf of the Opposition in Parliament the Alternative Policy Statement articulating the Policy directions for the ministry of Social Development and Gender.
The alternative mission of this Alternative Policy is “Promote equitable and sustainable social economic development and improved gender relations at all levels” Budget Allocation This financial years 2014/15 social development sect oral allocation is UGX 54.11bn compared to 44.42 in the FY2013/14, there by being increased by only UGX 9.69bn which may do less if well utilized compared to the many challenges calling for Government intervention.
Gaps and Risks  Statistics do not reflect issues concerning gender  Unpaid labour and lack of access to credit and land  Women make up 40% of registered businesses yet receive only 9% of the credit.

 Although it was reported in 2012/13 that Kampiringisa was partially renovated, it still appears in the estimates for FY 2014.

Yet there are no plans to renovate many homes.

 The MGLSD has many positions unfilled.

Out of 269 positions only 181 were filled in 2013.


There are 88 unfilled positions (67%) of positions filled.

Alternative Proposals  The Education Policy  Schools should have gender sensitive mechanisms for the improvement of quality education.

 Every school should have a room where girls can clean themselves, and change their sanitary pads during their Menstrual period.

And it should also consider putting up a room for girls to rest if they are in their periods.
Increased participation of women in science and technology at all levels.

This has effectively worked out in countries like Rwanda and Tanzania.

  Health Policy 1  The reproductive health services should be gender sensitive and easily accessible to both women and men and not only women as it has in most cases been witnessed in Uganda.

They should be provided with equal and correct knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards reproductive health.
 Publicize and disseminate the Community Based Strategy for Protection of Women and Men against HIV/AIDS.

Women and men should have equal access to HIV information for prevention, treatment, and care of the victims with a special attention to women.

 Government should establish a Gender Monitoring Office specifically designed to oversee and control;  Economic violence: denial of economic rights to property, succession, employment or other economic benefits.
 Physical violence: the intentional use of physical force with the potential to cause harm, injury or disability.
 Sexual violence: act of forcing another individual, through violence, threats, deception, cultural expectations, Weapons or economic circumstances, to engage in sexual behavior against her or his will  Psychological violence: trauma to the victim caused by acts, threats of acts or coercive tactics; these threats are often related to sexual or physical violence  Government should establish and strengthen gender institutional setups for promoting gender equality at Ministerial, Regional, District, Ward and Village/street levels.
 Motivate and empower women’s and men’s participation in budgeting, planning and management of resources to ensure that both of them benefit.

 Enhance participation of men, women, boys and girls as well as other marginalized groups in the social and economic affairs of their families and community.
 Strengthen the capacity and re orient technical staff of Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development and other line ministries to improve their capacity to support and monitor gender mainstreaming in policy and other development processes  Strengthen networks and collaboration with civil society organizations, local government, private sector, research and academic institutions, donors, the media especially local radios and regional and international development agencies to enhance equitable development  Develop and effectively implement poverty reduction programs in the North and Eastern parts of Uganda especially Karamoja  Develop economic and social programs for all older citizens (those above 65 years  of age).
In collaboration with Banks and other development partners re- introduce cooperatives and give support on a pilot basis to men, women and youth groups that are already in existence to enhance production and entrepreneurship.
2 Abbreviations and Acronyms CEDAW Women CBO MDGs- MGLSD NGO PMA SDIP FY FAL FDC IPC OEC LG PWD REACH SAGE TOT UN YLP – Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Millennium Development Goals Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Community Based Organization _ _ Non-Governmental Organization Plan for Modernization of Agriculture Social Development Sector Investment Plan Financial Year Functional Adult Literacy Forum for Democratic Change Inter Party Cooperation Equal Opportunity Commission Local Government People With Disability _ Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment Training of Trainers United Nations Youth Livelihood Programme Reproductive, Educative and Community Health Pogramme 3 1.0 Background CHAPTER 1 Women worldwide have limited opportunities to fully participate and benefit from development processes.
Yet, the rights of women and girls and equality between men and women, boys and girls are very crucial for sustainable development.

Since 1975 when the UN organised the first women’s conference in Mexico and dedicated the decade to women, a number of countries have set up national machineries to address gender inequality.

Uganda is among the countries that have ratified a number of these conventions.
One of the fundamental conventions is the Convention to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women CEDAW 1979.

The UN women’s conference that took place in Nairobi in 1985 established the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies after reviewing achievements and challenges of the UN women’s decade.

One of the key recommended strategies was the need to establish appropriate and effective government machinery with adequate resources to improve the status of women.
Ten years later, the UN organised the Beijing Women’s conference which put in place The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.

This platform for action calls for governments and other development actors to address 12 critical areas of concern to women and girls.

The 12 critical areas of concern include the right of women and girls to access education, health, clean water, sanitation and environment and the right to participate in decision making at all levels for improved social and economic welfare.
In addition, the UN developed the 2000 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which among others specify the need to pay attention to gender inequality especially in education and health.

The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 calls for more involvement of women in peace and security related issues especially participation in decision making.
At the regional level, there are African Union protocols such as the 1995 African Charter on human and people’s rights on the rights of women in Africa and the 2000 Declaration on Gender and Advancement of Women.

Uganda government is a signatory to all the above and has ample global and regional frameworks under which to take gender mainstreaming seriously.
For example, the African Charter on human and people’s rights on the rights of women in Africa calls on states to legislate against Female Genital Mutilation and other harmful cultural practices.

It provides for the right to health and reproductive rights and explicitly provides the right to medical abortion when pregnancy is as a result of rape or incest or if the life of the mother is under threat.
It also advocates for women’s rights to property and inheritance, equal rights in marriage and divorce and protection of the elderly and disabled women.

At the national level, the Uganda National Constitution stipulates that all citizens are equal and that there should be no discrimination based on sex, age or ethnicity.

The Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) and Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) recognise the need to address gender inequality if sustainable development has to be achieved.
The Uganda National Gender Policy approved in 1997 and revised in 2007 4 provides legitimate point of reference for government and all development actors to address gender inequality for sustainable development.

A number of Acts such as the Local Government Act, The Land Act 1995, the Disability Act and Equal Opportunities Act 2007 have been passed by Parliament.
These have resulted in policies that guide all sectors and stakeholders to address issues related to inequality of women and other marginalised groups.

Policies developed include the Equal Opportunities Policy, the Disability Policy, the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Policy.

It is clear from the above that the Government of Uganda has put in place gender and poverty eradication policies.
However, the government has had major challenges when it comes to effective implementation of those policies and ratified international and regional conventions and protocols.

These challenges are regularly presented by government Ministers and Permanent Secretaries in charge of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in their various reports and policy statements as will be elaborated later in this paper.
1.1 Legal Provisions In accordance with section 136 of the rules of procedures of parliament, it mandates shadow ministers to submit their alternative policy statements on the 15th day of July every year.

The social and economic objectives in the 1995 Republic of Uganda Constitution under the National Objective XIV include the following: i.
The State shall endeavour to fulfil fundamental rights of all Ugandans to social justice and economic development and shall in particular ensure that all development efforts are directed at ensuring the maximum social and cultural wellbeing of the people ii.
All Ugandans enjoy rights and opportunities and access education, health services, safe water, work and decent shelter, adequate clothing, food security and pension and retirement benefits The government shall recognise the important role that women play in society.

iii.
iii.

Sub Clause 4 under Article 21 of the Same Constitution states that all persons are equal before and under the law in all spheres of political, economic and cultural life and in every other aspect and shall enjoy equal protection of the law.

It further states that a person shall not be discriminated against on ground of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, social or economic standing, political opinion or disability.
1.2 Budget Allocation This financial years 2014/15 social development sect oral allocation is UGX 54.11bn compared to 44.42 in the FY2013/14, there by being increased by only UGX 9.69bn 5 which may do less if well utilized compared to the many challenges calling for Government intervention.

1.3 Gaps and Risks i.

Statistics do not reflect issues concerning gender ii.

Unpaid labour and lack of access to credit and land iii.

Women make up 40% of registered businesses yet receive only 9% of the credit.

iv.
iv.

Although it was reported in 2012/13 that Kampiringisa was partially renovated, it still appears in the estimates for FY 2014.

Yet there are no plans to renovate many homes.

The MGLSD has many positions unfilled.

Out of 269 positions only 181 were filled in 2013.

There are 88 unfilled positions (67%) of positions filled.
v. 1.4 Expected output  Change the economy and society by among other things promoting economic empowerment and employment especially creating jobs for the youth and reducing unfair treatment of workers  Protect the vulnerable and elderly, orphans and other marginalised groups and improve emergency responses   Implement a comprehensive post conflict rehabilitation programme for the North, North East and Karamoja Increase accessibility of communities to clean water to 100% and improve quality of health and education.
1.5 Sector Overview Although the current government has been in power for now 28 years, and despite the high sounding vision and mission of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, there are still many challenges hindering the ministry from delivering quality services for equitable development.

This Section highlights the level of poverty and dire need of the population of Uganda especially in the northern and Eastern parts of Uganda.
Key findings of the Uganda HIV/AIDS Survey 2011 indicate the following wellbeing indicators:  79 – 80% of the adult population in Uganda live in rural areas and 66% of women and 85% of men are employed.
 The bulk of women are employed in the informal sector or provide un paid labour 6  More than 7 in 10 Ugandan households use improved sources of drinking water but only 16% have improved unshared toilets  Two thirds of households live in dwellings with dirt floors, more than one third have walls made of mud and poles  Very few households 14% have electricity  A fifth of the households report that in the year before the HIV/AIDS survey, they often or always had problems in meeting their food needs  Over half of households have at least one mobile phone  Over half of the Ugandan population is under the age of 15  12% of children under age 18 are orphaned ( i.e.
one or two parents)  The bulk of Ugandan adults have had some education, however, 14% of women and 6% of men age between 15 and 49 have had no education  Women are disadvantaged in terms of educational attainment however gender differences are disappearing among young adults The above statistics indicate that half of the population is dependent on the half that is productive.
CHAPTER 2 2.0 Analysis of Government Social Sector Development Policy Statement The opposition has assessed the government social sector policy statement with a view of highlighting gaps and providing an alternative social sector development policy to enhance equitable social and economic development of all citizens of Uganda.

2.1.
2.1.

Mandate of the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development The mandate of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development as derived from the National Constitution Section 4 and 16 is to empower communities to harness their potential through skills development, labour productivity and cultural growth for sustainable and gender responsive development.

The vision of the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development is “A better standard of living, equity and social cohesion”.
The mission is “Promotion of gender equality, social protection and transformation of communities”.

The goal is to “Promote employment and productivity, positive cultural values, rights of vulnerable groups and gender responsive development”.

In the Social Development Sector Strategic Investment Plan (SDIP2) 2011/12 – 2015/16, the sector is supposed to accelerate social transformation through promoting employment and the rights of the vulnerable and marginalised.
The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in its Social Development Sector Policy Statement for Financial Year 2013/14 presented to Parliament estimates of revenue and expenditure based on the following.

7 2.2 strategic objectives: i. ii.

iii.

iv.


v. Promote labour productivity and decent employment opportunities Improve the wellbeing of vulnerable and marginalised groups Enhance effective participation of communities in the development process Promote gender equality and women empowerment and Institutional capacity development The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in its FY 2014/15 Social Sector Policy Statement indicate revised strategic objectives as follows: i. ii.

iii.

iv.
iii.

iv.

v. Promote positive cultural values, norms and practices Expand social protection measure to reduce vulnerability and enhance the productivity of the human resource Promote gender equality and women empowerment by ensuring equitable access to opportunities and participation in the development process Ensure respect and promotion of human rights and dignity Ensure effective community mobilization and participation in development initiatives 2.3 i. ii.
Sector Strategies are as follows: Foster national unity, patriotism, positive attitudes, change poverty mind-set and integrity and love for the country Intensify the promotion of Uganda’s visual and performing arts both locally and internationally iii.

Diversify and provide comprehensive social protection measures for the different categories of the population Promote gender mainstreaming in development plans, programmes and projects iv.

v. Reduce gender based violence and promote women’s rights vi.

vii.
vii.

viii.

ix.

x.
Strengthen technical capacity for gender and equity mainstreaming in plans, policy analysis and evaluation Promote economic empowerment of women Strengthen the systems for promotion of human rights and prevention of human rights abuses Improve the functionality and accessibility to quality non-formal literacy and numeracy services Promote the establishment and operationalization of the Community Information System in all districts Promote institutionalised entrepreneurship development Promote start up and youth entrepreneurship development Promote value chains and Strengthen social dialogue xi.
xii.

xiii.

xiv.

Considering all these strategies, Government has intentionally failed to prioritize on them to yield positive results for Uganda, well promoting social-economic development.

8 2.4 i. ii.

iii.
8 2.4 i. ii.

iii.

The Sectors intervention to achieve the NDP goals: Promote and train the population in the use of Kiswahili as a national language to foster unity and position Ugandans for regional integration; Provide financial and technical support to traditional/cultural institutions to effectively play their role in enhancing positive cultural and national values; Formulate a comprehensive social protection policy and strengthen the mechanism for coordination of social protection programmes; iv.
Develop and implement sensitization and awareness programmes and put in place clear reporting and administrative mechanisms for handling the cases; v. Ratify, domesticate and report on regional and international protocols, conventions and principles on women’s rights and gender equality; vi.

Develop programmes that support and develop women’s technical, managerial vii.
and entrepreneurial capacities and initiatives; Expand Functional Adult Literacy Programmes (FAL) to reach all villages and increase adult enrolment and training; viii.

Roll out the CIS to cover all the sub-counties in the country; ix.

x. xi.

xii.
xii.

Provide continuous training in data collection, processing and usage of CIS at the Central and Local Government level; Strengthen the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to ensure affirmative action is implemented by the various sectors to enable vulnerable groups effectively participate in the development process; Provide Entrepreneurial and Livelihood support to the youth; Strengthen the Labor Market Information System to guide both employers and job seekers; Establish a Productivity Centre; xiii.
xiv.

Develop a techno-entrepreneurs’ park and SME business incubation program me; xv.

xvi.

Promote cluster development; and Provide training in financial literacy; loan implementation and SMEs financing 2.5 The Ministry identified the following priorities for FY 2014/15 budget as follows: i.

Continued expansion of the Youth Livelihood Programme to unemployed youth in the country.

ii.

Operationalization of the Industrial Court to handle the backlog of the disputes iii.

iv.
v. Finalisation of a comprehensive Social Protection Policy Extension of social protection services to vulnerable persons Improvement on operation of SAGE in the LGs (14 pilot districts and 7 sub counties in Yumbe) Promotion of gender mainstreaming programmes to prevent and respond to gender based violence Promotion of culture for development Strengthening capacity for safeguard, safety and health at work places for occupational safety and health in work places and emerging sectors such as oil and gas Strengthening monitoring and evaluation implementation of vi.
vii.

viii.

ix.

in MALG and 9 2.6 The Ministry’s five vote functions i.

Community mobilization and empowerment ii.

Mainstreaming gender iii.

iv.

v. Promotion of labour, productivity and employment Social protection for the vulnerable groups Policy planning and support services The expected outcomes are as follows: Improved environment for increasing employment and productivity Empowered communities for increased involvement in the development process 2.7 i. ii.

iii.
iii.

Vulnerable persons protected from deprivation and livelihood risks iv.

Gender equality in social, economic and political spheres increased v. Enhanced capacity of the SDS to coordinate, implement, monitor and evaluate the Social Development Investment Plan (SDIP II) As indicated earlier the government has put in place policies and ratified international and regional conventions but it also recognises the constraints that they face when it comes to implementing these policies.
The opposition has assessed government performance based on the above set goal, objectives, strategies and outcomes as stated in the government policy statement of 2013/14 and the plans for 2014/15 2.8 Key issues and gaps identified in performance of MGLSD in year 2012/13 Objective Achievement Identified gap Promote productivity labour Labour laws and - 6 disseminated regulations and enforced and 4 sets of regulations on occupational safety and health developed - 3 consultative workshops on informal sector strategy in Central and Western Uganda organised guidelines on - Draft externalization of labour and draft Programme of employment Action on developed - 120 work places inspected countrywide for violation of labour laws - 55 reported complaints -Statistics do not reflect issues concerning gender.
These include should matters related to maternity leave, sexual harassment at work, equal pay, decent work for women and child labour - Unpaid labour and lack of access to credit and land.

Women provide over 70% of un paid agricultural labour yet only own 7% of registered land in Uganda.

- Women make up 40% of registered businesses yet receive only 9% of credit.
10 Improve the wellbeing of vulnerable and marginalized groups Council accessed and disputes country wide investigated and 200 work places for occupational and health compliance.
-International Labour day, World Day against Child Labour and World Day for Safety and Health at work celebrated -42 children and babies homes as well as 4 youth institutions were provided with support and 55 youth groups in PCY Programme Districts were monitored and evaluated - 3 semi- autonomous institutions, National Disability, for Council National Youth Council and national for supported Children were with subvention to mobilise target groups as well as monitor and evaluate their activities - Training for 3300 youth in entrepreneurship skills was conducted – 144 youth in vocational skills, 200 youth in Adolescent Reproductive Health and 50 youth groups were supported with start- up capital - 50 PWD equipped with employable skills and 500 trainees in institutions were supported and 44 children in Ministry institutions were formal supported with education -Partial Kampiringisa completed children of was 1580 Ministry renovation and in 11 -Reported complaint cases do not indicate how many were from women or men.
-Unemployment which very high is not addressed is Statistics are gender neutral in for -According to the list of homes vulnerable children, most of them are located central and western Uganda – 2 or 3 are in East and Northern Uganda – yet Northern and Eastern Uganda has a big vulnerable group those children and affected nodding (Over 3000 children with nodding disease still unattended).
of including by war disease Although it was reported in 2012/13 that Kampiringisa was partially renovated, it still appears in the estimates for FY 2014.

Yet there are no plans to renovate many homes.
Enhance participation communities development process in effective of the Promote gender equality and women empowerment of distributed resettlement institutions were provided with food and non- food items kits - 25 for Ministry purchased 151 institutions and 74 senior citizens benefited from social assistance grant in 14 for empowerment pilot districts -National handbook for Community development other and Officers stakeholders launched - National Library received 25,293 and volumes reading materials - supported 13 book week celebration festival exhibitions - Monitored and provided to 30 support technical governments local implementing community development activities leaders traditional - supported with 0.005 bn per month and National and Cultural Centre National Library were supported with wage subventions.
- International Literacy Day and International Family Days were celebrated -10 sectors were guided to mainstream gender in their and policies, 100 programmes in stakeholders human based rights approach in development programing - National Council of Equal Women, and trained plans 11 12 how These statistics show what was produced but do not the indicate handbooks and materials were utilised and the impact the they made communities to The MGLSD has many positions unfilled.
Out of 269 positions only 181 were filled in 2013.

There are 88 unfilled positions (67%) of positions filled.
With such gaps it is difficult to reach over 100 local Institutional development capacity Supported 30 Opportunities Commission and the REACH NGO were supported with subvention to prevent FGM related activities Commemorated - International Women’s Day Local - on Governments mainstreaming equity and rights issues -Budget frame work paper and estimates for revenue and for expenditure recurrent and development as well as Ministerial Policy and Statement implementation plan 2013/14 developed.
- Payments made - Annual produced - Semi – Sectoral strategy on street children (withdrawal, tracing and reintegration) 651 implemented children and adults from the streets of Kampala and other towns withdrawn and resettled.

for Utilities 2013/14 report audit and 13 governments, monitor institutions that are under it.

Moreover, the institutions are poorly staffed – only 46% of the positions in the the institutions MGLSD are filled.

There are vacant in those positions institutions!


324 in under total a effectively -The Ministry of Gender, Social and Labour Development has heavy departments such as Labour and social development and as gender result mainstreaming issues do not get their due attention.

The directorates seem to work independently and gender is not reflected even within the Ministry’s work plans of labour and social development directorates.

In most cases reports do not provide gender disaggregated data.
-Although the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development key mandate is to mainstream gender it receives least budget and resources from government- FY2013/2014 allocation was follows: 37.18% was as Social to allocated Protection for vulnerable groups, 28.85% to policy, planning support and services; 16.18% promotion of labour productivity and 10.82% employment; mobilization community and and to gender only 6.98% empowerment Key issues and gaps identified in performance of MGLSD in year 2013/14 2.9 Department Community Mobilization and Empowerment mainstreaming.
- The budget allocation for FY 2014/15 to the ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development still leaves a lot to be desired.
leaders supported Library of to Achievement -National Action Plans on Community Development and policy Family developed Literacy -National Adult Policy approved by Cabinet -Monitoring and technical backstopping to 48 LGs community implementing development activities and 9 LGs implementing Culture and Family activities -11 traditional supported with 0.60 Bn - National Uganda monitor other 14 libraries - FAL materials developed in Luganda and Runyankore Rukiga for -A conducting participatory gender mainstreaming was developed -Gender Based Violence action plan was finalised stakeholders and rights trained based in development programming and two documents distributed in 4 districts -42 Local government staff mentored and supervised in in mainstreaming gender in human approach concept note 150 the Gap 110 -48 Local Governments out districts were of monitored and supported with technical backstopping The Ministry is involved in many activities and ends up having little impact on the ground -Very few districts are being reached with limited impact -Statistics on trained staff not disaggregated by gender 14 Gender Mainstreaming and rights Labour and Productivity in 13 and rights local governments while others were provided technical support on mainstreaming equity and rights in 21 districts to National - Women’s and REACH to implement their activities -192 bicycles distributed in 8 districts Support Council for laws Labor safety regulations sector -Gender E Resource Centre launched and -4 regulations monitored and sets of enforced and 8 occupational and health regulations ready for gazetting -Guidelines external recruitment agencies and finalised companies were OSH and informal strategy developed -164 workplaces inspected countrywide 100 reported cases of violation of labour standards settled in 220 workplace (175 from central region and 45 from up country) - and equipment were inspected health for standards 10 recruitment companies were monitored -A total of 230 workers complaints and disputes settled and 100 reported and disputes complaints countrywide investigated and 4 tripartite consultation 196 workplaces and and safety and 15 -This involves transferring money to those institutions and no technical support (as the highlighted earlier – MGLSD be to needs decongested to ensure staff strategic concentrate on issues than rather distribution of money and bicycles).
issues of complaints Key need to be highlighted Statistics gender blind Social Protection Types of jobs should be to minimize mentioned and human trafficking rights human abuse for girls and especially women licenced meetings on labour issues were held in Kampala -Industrial Court Judges appointed and court to start functioning by 1st July, 2014 - 86Labour Officers from Local Government trained in labour administration 5 trained in OSH inspectors are and undergoing orientation on safety and health - In-house training for 18 OSH inspectors on oil and gas operations conducted - 7 Private recruitment companies to participate in externalisation of labour programme - A total of 1,754 (1592 males and 162 females) accessed jobs in Somalia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan.
-National Council for Older Persons Act and 500 copies of the Post Graduate Course outline Social of Gerontology were finalized and disseminated and National Council for Older Persons was established.
- Persons with Disability (PWD) Bill was submitted to Cabinet for amendment - Monitoring and technical to 18 support provided Local Governments on SPGWD and 5 groups of older persons and 4 SAGE districts, 12 children and babies homes, 100 youth from project districts, 27 programme districts on youth and children activities and 15 PCY 19 16 Statistics disaggregated not gender into Grant trained skills 50 local governments on Social for Assistance Empowerment (SAGE) provided - 170 PWD equipped with in employable Kireka, 50 in Lweza, 35 in Ruti and 35in Mpumudde centres while 325 youth were in youth entrepreneurship Livelihood - Youth document Programme translated local languages – Ateso, Luo, Lumasaba and Luganda, Runyakitara - Livelihood Youth Programme piloted in 26 districts and 5 divisions of Kampala, 100 TOTs trained and 631 district stakeholders and leaders sensitised on the YLP.
- 377 projects from the youth simplified hand books on youth livelihood in - 171 youth – 54 vocational Northern, 54 Eastern, 45 Central and 18 Western - 310 youth trained in and entrepreneurship business skills in districts of Tororo, and Sheema - 115 children in conflict with the law empowered and 228 youth provided from 16 with districts youth groups empowered with the start-up capital districts of Tororo and Sheema tool kits and Kayunga received trained skills 16 in 17 Policy Planning and Support Services - Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment received by 5,736 newly enrolled senior citizens households in 14 pilot districts of Kyenjojo, Kaberamaido, Kiboga, Moroto, Nakapiriprit, Nebbi, Katakwi, Apac, Kole, Kyegegwa, Napak, Zombo, Kyankwanzi, amd amudat were paid through DFID’s managing agent – the total number of beneficiaries is about 110,000 in - 170 PWD Trainees institutions Ministry supported and cared for and 1,734 children in 5 Ministry institutions provided with food and medicine and 5 children maintained _ Sector Policy Statement for FY 13/14 printed and disseminated all stakeholders -Sector performance reports and Annual Implementation Guidelines Social Development finalized - Sector conditional grants to Local Government for 2013/14 transferred - 16 Technical Support Team for the Youth Livelihood Programme recruited for grants - management and administration of Youth Livelihood Programme provided to 9840 youth groups - 1360 bicycles purchased youth for chairpersons, 120 motorcycles district youth Annual county sub for to 18 at the Some activities could be done local government level- purchase of furniture for example.
This would strengthen the Local and governments empower communities who could tender to buy items like furniture.
and and as well 30 chairpersons their computers accessories as furniture purchased for the Youth Livelihood Programme - A total of 1570 youth groups (5,807 male and 4524 female) have been supported under the Youth Livelihood Programme - Kobulin Youth Centre renovated and 557 children withdrawn streets, rehabilitated and reunited with their communities - Monitoring and provision of financial and technical support has been given at local government level and internally in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development from The challenges that face government as far as gender equality is concerned have become chronic.
In 2010 the Permanent Secretary in her foreword to the Social Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics 2006/7 – 2010/11 indicated that the Ministry’s mainly donor funded programmes were not necessarily addressing issues related to the sector mandate.
In her foreword to the Social Development Sector Policy Statement 2014/15, the Minster of Gender, Labour and Social Development stated “given the priorities of the sector, the budget allocation is insufficient and a number of important activities have remained unfunded”.

When it comes to wellbeing of citizens, there has been very slow progress especially for women and children below 5 years.
In the third Millennium Development Goals progress report of 2010, the UN Resident Representative in Uganda in her foreword to the report observed that there was cause for concern “for several MDGs, progress has been too slow to meet the national and international targets and for some MDGs there has been outright reversal, in some cases the improvements in national averages mask inequalities in progress.” One of the key goals where there has been insufficient progress is MDG 5 – improve maternal health.
Maternal health continues to be a major challenge as16 women die 19 daily while giving birth in Uganda.

Access to reproductive health services has been slow and Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases still remains a big challenge.

In the Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey 2011, it is reported that approximately 130 000 new HIV/ infections occur annually with increased risk among married and cohabiting couples (Uganda AIDS Commission 2009).
2.10 Other gaps highlighted in the UN MDG Uganda report 2010 include target 1B- Achieve full productive employment and decent work for all including women and young people – (no target).

Considering the number of graduates and young people who are unemployed, Uganda has done poorly as the number of unemployed youth is increasing.

Goal 2: Achieve universal education – target 2A- ensure that by 2015, children everywhere boys and girls will be able to complete primary education.
There is high drop- out rates especially among girls and the quality of UPE and USE leave a lot to be desired.

With such slow progress on key millennium goals, it is not going to be easy to improve the wellbeing of all citizens in Uganda.

Moreover, in the 2011 AIDS Survey, it is indicated that the population as a whole is equally distributed by wealth quintile but with large differences by residence and region.
Overwhelming majority of those who are wealth are in urban areas 77% and 95% in Kampala being ranked as the wealthiest.
On the other hand, inhabitants of North East, Mid North and West Nile regions are disproportionally more likely to fall into the poorest quintile (AIDS Survey 2011) The Minister of Gender, Labor and Social Development in the foreword to the 2014/15 Social Development Sector Policy Statement stated that despite the fact that the sector plays a key role in laying a foundation for other sectors to improve their outcomes, the sector still remains the least funded.
In FY 2014/15, it has been allocated 54.11 billion from 44.42 billion in the FY 2013/14, a share of only 0.4% of the overall budget.

There is no way the government can achieve the set objectives, goals and activities as presented in the policy statement without sufficient resource input into this key sector for social development.

Despite the low funding by government to the social development sector, the Ministry has gone ahead and introduced new and very broad strategies.
The new areas of focus will further negatively affect the Ministry’s capacity to deliver quality services.

For example strategies on fostering national unity, patriotism, positive attitudes, change of poverty mindset and integrity and love for the country and intensifying the promotion of Uganda’s visual and performing arts both locally and internationally is just adding to the wish list to the Ministry which is already overwhelmed by so many institutional activities.
Even training the population in Kiswahili and expanding the adult literacy programme seem far-fetched.

20 3.0 Alternative Social Development Sector Policy CHAPTER 3 This Section highlights key social development issues that the opposition proposes government should focus on.
In developing the alternative policy statement on Social Development Sector, the opposition is guided by its National Constitutional provisions and its core values as mentioned below; Promotion and protection of rights i. Constitutionalism ii.

iii.

Democracy and good governance iv.

Social and economic justice v. Equal opportunities for women, the disabled and other marginalised groups vi.

Peace, security and the rule of law vii.

Zero tolerance of corruption viii.


Restoration of hope and development in war ravaged areas ix.

Rapid national transformation x.

Peaceful co-existence and international cooperation In addition, the Opposition stated in their 2011 manifesto that change does not come from government alone, real change comes when the people are mobilised and inspired to play a part in the nation’s future and feel there is fairness in the distribution of resources.
The Opposition identified key social and economic priorities to improve the quality of lives of Ugandans for the FY 2014/15 as follows: ii.

i.
i.

Change the economy and society by among other things promoting economic empowerment and employment especially creating jobs for the youth and reducing unfair treatment of workers Protect the vulnerable and elderly, orphans and other marginalised groups and improve emergency responses Implement a comprehensive post conflict rehabilitation programme for the North, North East and Karamoja Increase accessibility of communities to clean water to 100% and improve quality of health and education iii.

iv.
iv.

In order to address chronic poverty, gender and regional imbalances, the opposition Social Development Sector Policy proposes the following: Vision: A healthy, well informed, productive community freely engaging and effectively participating in gender responsive development process.
21 Mission: Promote equitable and sustainable social economic development and improved gender relations at all levels Goal: A changed society where men, women, youth and other marginalized groups effectively participate in development processes for the good of society.

Objectives i. ii.
Objectives i. ii.

Improve social and economic status of men, women, youth and marginalized groups through effective participation in the development process Promote rehabilitation and economic social wellbeing of men, women, youth, OVC, PWD and those affected by war in Northern, Eastern and other parts of Uganda iii.

Build capacity of the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development to effectively engage and mainstream gender in all aspects of development iv.
Create meaningful and strong linkages with donors, private sector especially the Oil and Gas Sector, local government, civil society organizations and religious institutions to enhance gender responsive and equitable development Opposition Expected Key outcomes i.

Improved wellbeing of families and harmony in communities ii.
Communities with changed mindset that appreciate the importance and value of participation in politics, social and economic activities in their families/households and at national level iii.

Family and community members that respect women and girls and the important role gender equality issues play in enhancing development at all levels iv.
Marginalized groups such as PWD, Older Persons, and the very poor as well as ethnic minorities are engaged and feel appreciated by their families, communities and contribute greatly to the development process v. Increased budgeting and resource utilization for gender mainstreaming and social development as well as improved collaboration between Local Governments, Civil Society, Development Agencies, the media, private sector, cultural leaders and the Ministry of Gender, Women and Youth Empowerment.

22 vi.
22 vi.

Improved engagement of youth especially in agricultural production and relieving women who are currently overburdened with labor for food and cash production.

Improved value of working for the good of the family/household especially among young men who tend to relocate to urban areas for transport businesses.

vii.
vii.

More involvement of men and boys in the reproductive health, care for the children and the sick instead of leaving that responsibility to women and girls only Possible Broad Activities i. ii.

iii.

iv.

v. vi.

Creation of gender sensitive role model families – where communities decide how a gender sensitive family should behave and act in the community.

These families can become role models for others to learn from- this way gender is brought down to the family and stops being a myth.
People see gender issues at their level and are happy to participate.

Gender role model families can create gender for other communities to learn from.

sensitive communities and become models In collaboration with other actors strengthen initiatives and create new approaches to effectively deal with gender based violence in communities and sexual harassment in work places and institutions Put a law in place for community courts to handle family related disputes especially land related.
This will enhance dialogue and cohesion and assist families to settle simple disputes before they result in major life threating conflicts.
Support youth – both boys and girls to access resources (financial and skills to be able to effectively get involved in job creation rather than being job seekers – work with banks and private sector) Create space for Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development to re orient their mind set after restructuring and avail them space for reflection and planning to improve and appreciate their changed roles Strengthen the role of sector committees to guide implementation and reporting on policies and international/regional conventions and mandate without sharing all the resources with other institutions which have very un related agenda 23 vii.
viii.

Put in place clear mechanisms of consultation and resource mobilization for effective collaboration with development partners interested in gender equality and social development issues Increase staff of the Directorates of Gender and Women Empowerment and Community Development and give them enough financial and human resources to do their key mandate of mainstreaming and monitoring gender in sector Ministries as well as mobilization and empowerment of communities.

ix.
ix.

Create Ministry of Labor and Productivity to deal with all labor related issues including health and safety at workplaces, decent work for women and child labor, human trafficking (in the name of work abroad) x.
Create a ministry of Culture and Family to regulate and improve the role of cultural institutions in creation of wealth and cohesion among the population and involve the institutions in positively changing the mindset of the population towards the importance of the role of women, men, PWD, People Affected by war and HIV/AIDS, minority ethnic groups and youth (Boys and girls) in the development process xi.
The ministry of Culture and Family will take on the role of rebranding Uganda’s cultural and tourism image among other things.

xii.

Develop and maintain a data information system with all key stakeholders with their areas of interest and expertise and make it accessible to all for effective collaboration and funding for gender and equitable planning, monitoring and evaluation.
This will help the Ministry to know who is doing what and reduce duplication or non-funding and poor performance in some sector areas.

CHAPTER 4 4.0 CONCLSUION SUMMARY OF ALTERNATIVES 1.

Promote bottom up approach and focus on family and community empowerment for cohesion, peace and social economic development.

2.

The Education Policy i.

Schools should have gender sensitive mechanisms for the improvement of quality education.

24 ii.

iii.
24 ii.

iii.

Every school should have a room where girls can clean themselves, and change their sanitary pads while on their period.

And it should also consider putting up a room for girls to rest if they are in their periods.

Increased participation of women in science and technology at all levels.

This has effectively worked out in countries like Rwanda and Tanzania.

3.
3.

Health Policy  The reproductive health services should be gender sensitive and easily accessible to both women and men and not only women as it has in most cases been witnessed in Uganda.

They should be provided with equal and correct knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards reproductive health.

 Publicize and disseminate the Community Based Strategy for Protection of Women and Men against HIV/AIDS.
Women and men should have equal access to HIV information for prevention, treatment, and care of the victims with a special attention to women.

4.

Government should establish a Gender Monitoring Office specifically designed to oversee and control; i. ii.

iii.

Economic violence: denial of economic rights to property, succession, employment or other economic benefits.

Physical violence: the intentional use of physical force with the potential to cause harm, injury or disability.
Sexual violence: act of forcing another individual, through violence, threats, deception, cultural expectations, Weapons or economic circumstances, to engage in sexual behavior against her or his will iv.

v. Psychological violence: trauma to the victim caused by acts, threats of acts or coercive tactics; these threats are often related to sexual or physical violence 5.
Government should establish and strengthen gender institutional setups for promoting gender equality at Ministerial, Regional, District, Ward and Village/street levels.

6.

Motivate and empower women’s and men’s participation in budgeting, planning and management of resources to ensure that both of them benefit.

25 7.

Enhance participation of men, women, boys and girls as well as other marginalized groups in the social and economic affairs of their families and community.

8.
8.

Strengthen the capacity and re orient technical staff of Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development and other line ministries to improve their capacity to support and monitor gender mainstreaming in policy and other development processes 9.
Strengthen networks and collaboration with civil society organizations, local government, private sector, research and academic institutions, donors, the media especially local radios and regional and international development agencies to enhance equitable development 10.

Develop and effectively implement poverty reduction programs in the North and Eastern parts of Uganda especially Karamoja 11.

Develop economic and social programs for all older citizens (those above 65 years of age).

12.
12.

In collaboration with Banks and other development partners re- introduce cooperatives and give support on a pilot basis to men, women and youth groups that are already in existence to enhance production and entrepreneurship.

Finally, Government should restructure the current over -crowded and under- funded Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development to enhance effective delivery of service.
(Create Ministry of Gender, Women and Youth Empowerment as stand-alone ministry; Labor and Production as a stand-alone Ministry and Culture, Community and Family Development also becomes independent).

In addition, some staff from the Ministry of Gender, Women and Youth Empowerment should be placed in key line ministries to be in charge of gender mainstreaming and monitoring in those ministries and be answerable to the Ministry of Gender, Women and Youth Empowerment.
The Ministry of Gender, Women and Youth Empowerment will majorly focus on gender mainstreaming and inclusion – which will cover PWD, the Older Persons and other marginalized groups.

I beg to move 26